New discovery in Kalaburagi : How an ancient Hindu temple was unearthed

Kalaburagi, Karnataka: The Gaur K. village in the Kalaburagi district is now the center of attention for hordes of devotees. Most of them have traveled from afar; just to catch a glimpse of the idols of gods and goddesses of a newly excavated temple.

The plot where the temple is discovered belongs to a local farmer named Sunil Shivappa Dafedar. Mr. Dafedar told that he will proudly donate the land if there is to be a reconstruction of the temple.

The excavation began, at the insistence of Kailashalingeshwara Swami, the head of the Kailashalingeshwar Math. The Swami, claimed that Lord Srisailam Mallikarjjuna appeared in his dream and directed him to search for a temple in the village beneath an agricultural field on the banks of the Bori stream.

He also mentioned that though, he was not believed by the villagers at first, the excavation work which carried on from 25th February to 5th March, revealed an entrance to a structure which appears to be constructed by two massive boulders. Along with this another sanctum sanctorum where the idol of Goddess Brahmaramba is also excavated and the idol of the Serpent God Nagraja is discovered with two more Shivalingas.

The Talukdar Dayanand Patil, who have already visited the spot said that the ASI authorities in Dharwadand and the State Archaeology Department in Kalaburagi has been alerted. And either of them are likely to attend to the discovery on this Monday and unveil more information.

The age and other details of the temple will only be ascertained after the authorities inspect the site further. (With input from agencies)

The BJP was on Tuesday set to return to power in its southern bastion Karnataka as its candidates crossed the half-way mark in vote count, stunning and ousting the ruling Congress and leaving the JD-S at the third spot.

Noisy celebrations broke out in party offices in Bengaluru, New Delhi and across Karnataka as Bharatiya Janata Party nominees were on the victory lap in 118 of the 222 constituencies which voted on Saturday.

This was a dramatic jump from the 40 seats the BJP won five years ago.

The Congress, desperate to retain power in the state amid shrinking appeal nationally, suffered major blows and was ahead only in 62 seats, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah trailing in both the constituencies he contested: Badami and Chamundeshwari.

The Congress leader was way behind G.T Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal-Secular in Chamundeshwari, Election Commission officials said. And after leading initially, Siddaramaiah fell behind B.R. Sriramulu of the BJP in Badami.

In contrast, the BJP’s Chief Ministerial face B.S. Yeddyurappa was ahead of his Congress rival by more than 11,000 votes in Shikaripura.

Energy Minister and Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar said that the numbers indicated that his party was on the way out after five years in power.

Any party or grouping will need 113 of the total 224 seats to secure a majority in the Assembly. Polling did not take place in two constituencies on Saturday.

The BJP was overjoyed. “We are in a jubilant mood because we have crossed the half-way mark. We are confident of winning,” spokesman S. Shantharam told IANS.

BJP activists and leaders celebrated noisily in both Bengaluru and New Delhi, waving party flags and shouting slogans hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, their main vote-getter, and party President Amit Shah.

There were also celebrations outside the residence of Yeddyurappa, who has been Chief Minister earlier too.

Karnataka Polls counting suggests big win for BJP, wikimedia commons

The Janata Dal-Secular of former Prime Minister H.D. Dewe Gowda, which has been expected to play the role of a kingmaker in the event of a hung Assembly, was leading in 40 seats — the same number it won five years ago.

As the vote count progressed, BJP leaders became assertive, saying they were confident of taking power again in Karnataka while Congress leaders began to speak about the possibility of an alliance with the JD-S.

BJP leader and Union Minister Sadanand Gowda said that there was no question of any alliance.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar, who is in charge of Karnataka, met BJP President Amit Shah in New Delhi.

Analysts said the BJP was leading in Lingayat dominated seats and the JD-S in Vokkaliga dominated areas.

Expectations of a BJP victory in Karnataka lifted the key Indian equity indices during the mid-morning trade session on Tuesday.